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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25774750">Stay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogsteak/pseuds/frogsteak'>frogsteak</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Romance, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Porn, M/M, One Shot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Canon, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:35:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,342</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25774750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogsteak/pseuds/frogsteak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Life after the Organization isn't going quite as Lea had hoped it would. The relationship between Isa, Roxas and Xion is as frigid as ever. Isa wants to go back to Radiant Garden, and nobody wants to sort out their past. So Lea thinks he can take to old tricks to make Isa stay without putting himself on the line.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For second AkuSai day.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>The whole of Twilight Town was beneath Lea’s feet from the ledge of the clock tower. He watched the twilight sky like he’d never seen a sunset last that long before. He shook his foot impatiently. Ten minutes ago, he had called Isa. </p>
<p>“Come to the clock tower, alone. Hurry.” </p>
<p>A needlessly worrying thing to say over the phone without as much as a ‘hello’ or a ‘goodbye,’ but it gave him leverage. Isa wouldn’t refuse. Maybe he’d be upset because Lea had been rude, maybe a knot of anxiety would settle in the pit of his stomach while he ran through every possible serious topic Lea would need to talk about. The list was endless. So Isa would heed the call, begrudgingly, anxiously.</p>
<p>This life after death hadn’t quite gone as Lea had hoped. The chasm between his past and present was as big as it had ever been. Isa didn’t like spending time with neither Roxas nor Xion, let alone Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They were too loud, too boisterous, their voices seemed to grate in his ears. Being pleasant and friendly for hours on end was an undertaking for Isa. Lea felt a twinge of resentment whenever he caught Isa glance over at any clocks around them, until finally, with his first paycheck, Isa got his own watch, adding insult to injury as usual.</p>
<p>To be fair, Roxas and Xion struggled in Isa’s presence as well. They wanted to start anew, on a clean slate, but their memories and feelings betrayed them. They strangled their laughter when Isa’s smile grew tense, they lowered their voices when Isa’s performance cracked and he sighed while rubbing his forehead hard enough to leave pale red marks. </p>
<p>The past breathed down their necks like a famished wolf. Some things would just not go by ignored for too long, and as much sense that made to Lea, he resented them for it, too. Shameful resentment because who did he think he was to demand anything from them in this regard?</p>
<p>Isa had been quick to find work. It kept him busy and gave him an excuse to not go to their gatherings. Isa would never admit to it, but Lea was certain getting out of gatherings was the driving force behind accepting a job as a dishwasher at Le Grand Bistro. Needless to say, Isa climbed up the ranks quickly. Scrooge McDuck saw Isa’s potential and urge to politely escape and found ways to make money out of it.</p>
<p><em> Sorry, can’t make it today, surprise shift at the restaurant. Sorry, inventory day today. Sorry, we’re two waiters down. Sorry, crisis at the restaurant again. </em> Lea had saved each and every text. Not to hold it against Isa, but as proof that he wasn’t imagining things. He knew where this was going, he could’ve stopped it then, but figured Isa would come round and see in Roxas and Xion what Lea saw; boundless light and joy, eager and loyal friendships. And then there’d be love.</p>
<p>
  <em> Idiot. </em>
</p>
<p>It felt like it had just been yesterday that Isa had texted him the bombshell in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>
  <em> “I was promoted to restaurant manager!” </em>
</p>
<p>If only he had decided against the cutesy sticker of a happy bowl of noodles, if only he had omitted the exclamation mark, added an emoji with ambivalent feelings, if only he hadn’t been so damn happy about it, Lea would’ve found it in himself to send him an earnest “Congratulations!” with an equally cutesy sticker. </p>
<p>Instead, Lea read the short text, stewed in the annoying grin on the bowl of noodles until his eyes stung. He turned off his phone and didn’t reply until lunch the next day. Mature. He’d gone to hell and back and learned nothing.</p>
<p>Lea took a deep breath when a harsh breeze ruffled his hair and disrupted his long chain of thoughts. It dampened the frustration that was growing into anger. The sun had sunk lower. In a blink, the chain of thoughts shifted tracks because it had not all been bad. Far from it.</p>
<p>Isa found ways to be with him. He came by late at night with leftovers. They’d take long walks under the starlit sky; Isa would tell him about the eccentric customers, and the waiter Milo who first made an appearance as a thief of tips only to later become a source of amusement. Lea was certain that he illuminated every dark alleyway with the fire he burned with whenever Isa chuckled at Milo’s shenanigans, but Isa never mentioned it. He would just carefully ask about Lea’s day, listen intently and not mention Milo for a couple of days.</p>
<p>Milo was the least of Lea’s problems. McDuck was expanding his business by opening a new restaurant in Radiant Garden. He had offered Isa everything he would need to move back. A house, a job, a raise, and Milo on the side. Isa had until tomorrow to decide, granted he hadn’t given McDuck an answer already. Maybe Isa had just given Lea the impression of indecisiveness to spare his feelings.</p>
<p>The door creaked open from the other side of the tower. Lea turned slightly for a glance. He heard Isa stop to catch his breath. Twenty minutes from the restaurant to the top of the clock tower. He must have stayed to change clothes.</p>
<p>Lea listened for Isa’s irregular steps. He was dragging his shoes as if he hadn’t put them on properly.</p>
<p>“Shit,” Isa muttered when it seemed he stubbed his shoe against a loose tile. “Lea?”</p>
<p>Lea didn’t answer. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of Isa’s voice and he wondered if his desperate plan wasn’t equal parts cruel and selfish.</p>
<p>“Hey.” Isa approached him and sat down on the ledge next to him. His hair was in a braid, ends wet and a darker blue. He shivered when he pulled the fly on his jacket all the way up. “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Lea placed his hand over Isa’s and squeezed it gently until Isa turned on his hand to entwine their fingers together. It had been years since they had held hands. It ached to think how naturally it came to them, how fitting it was, the comfort that came with it. </p>
<p>
  <em> Is this cruel? </em>
</p>
<p>Isa sank into his jacket. Lea saw the discreet and worried glances, but remained still, as if what he was about to say was too heavy a burden to speak without thorough contemplation. The fidgeting and the picking at barely loose threads with a trembling hand was sign enough that Lea had him where he needed him to be.</p>
<p>“Lea, I…” Isa began with the initiation of the ending he saw coming. It was clear in the thickness of his voice, the way he hid behind the wide collar of his jacket and the tightening of his hold on Lea’s hand. He was really going to give up after everything they had been through.</p>
<p>Lea’s sardonic chuckle silenced Isa. He closed his eyes as if preparing himself for what he must have been expecting for months.</p>
<p>“Are your roommates home?”</p>
<p>They were off as soon as Isa shook his head ‘no.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Whatever was going through Isa’s head would be a delight to hear about after. All Lea could do now was relish in the surprised whimper against his lips when he stroked Isa over his dark, snug pants. It took little to feel him grow hard under the palm of his hand. By the time they broke for air, any worries about eternal goodbyes were gone.</p>
<p>Isa’s hands were cold and trembling when he fumbled with the fake fly on Lea’s pants. At any other occasion, Lea was certain Isa would’ve laughed at the sound of the velcro waistband, but it seemed he couldn’t hear anything past his heartbeat. His knees nearly buckled when Lea pressed up against him, every bit as hard and needy. Each stroke made him shiver. Isa leaned his head back against the wall, his lips bruised and wet, and shaped beautifully around a silent moan.</p>
<p>Lea buried his face against the nape of Isa’s neck. He licked, kissed and suckled.</p>
<p>
  <em> Gods, he smells so good.  </em>
</p>
<p>Like summer in the Outer Gardens; that one big family picnic that went on past sunset, surrounded by blooming moonflowers. Once the fire was nothing but smouldering coal, and the fireflies came out, Lea and Isa had found themselves in one of the abandoned tunnels, kissing awkwardly until it wasn't. Lea didn't see Isa naked until six months after that.</p>
<p>A slight shift in speed brought Isa to sweet release. He trembled as he pressed himself against the wall and came over Lea’s checkered shirt. Lea lost no time. He undressed quickly and pulled any remaining clothing off of Isa. Clothes tossed without caution all over the hallway was a good way to keep the roommates away.</p>
<p>The trip to Isa’s room was short. It had to be. Lea left no room for doubt. Any question, any pause, he filled with merciless kisses. Lea pushed Isa onto his bed and stopped for a second to take in the sight. Isa’s chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. The color of his hair seemed more intense against the white towel under him. </p>
<p>Isa shifted his arms over his torso absentmindedly. His first reaction was always to hide. Their scars came with unflattering stories of a past that haunted them. Neither seemed ready nor willing to speak of it. Not yet. But Isa’s eyes widened as if brusquely taken out of the mood Lea had been so careful to put him in.</p>
<p>“Lea…” Isa reached his hand out. Only then did Lea realize his mistake. The scar on his chest with a mirror image on his back. Isa hadn’t seen it before.</p>
<p>Lea grabbed Isa’s wrist just as he touched the scar. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against Isa’s and hold his gaze.</p>
<p>“There’s time, Isa,” he whispered, but Isa tried to look again and pull his hand back. “Hey, hey, there’s time. Yeah?” Lea kissed him again. A tentative kiss to make sure Isa was with him. It took a few seconds, but the tension in his arm subsided until Lea could let go.</p>
<p>Isa nodded slowly. He wasn’t entirely convinced. That had to be remedied. Lea pinned Isa down and put Isa’s hands over his head to keep him from hiding. Isa had his fair share of scars. Lea had seen most of them only because he had the habit of walking in on Isa whenever he was getting dressed. Some scars were his doing, old and new, accidental and with intent. There’d be time to talk about it. Isa was going to stay here in Twilight Town, and when the stars aligned, they would talk.</p>
<p>But now... now it’d be unfair to ask Isa to talk. He was much too busy sucking Lea’s fingers. It wouldn’t be the last thing occupying his mouth if he kept working his tongue so eagerly. A particularly luscious moan nearly knocked the wind out of Lea. At this rate, he’d come untouched.</p>
<p>His fingers were coated when he pulled them out of Isa's mouth. Lea made quick work of it. There was a specific heat he was craving and he pressed his fingers into it. The already slick sensation made Lea’s heart drop. He pulled out only to slip them in hard and watch Isa squirm.</p>
<p>“Were you expecting someone?”</p>
<p>Isa sobbed against the palm of his hand. He shook his head, struggling to keep his hips still.</p>
<p>“Were you with someone?” Lea felt tears sting in his eyes.</p>
<p>
  <em> Did I wait too long? No. No, no, no. </em>
</p>
<p>“Isa.”</p>
<p>“Does it matter?”</p>
<p>The counter-question turned everything red for a split second. A decade ago, he would’ve thought himself furious, but he’d gotten to know the various distinctions of anger, and this, this color red that had him grip Isa’s hips and gingerly push himself into Isa after a few strokes with his fingers, was a cocktail of possessive jealousy and hurt. In another life, he'd give in.</p>
<p>Isa’s breath hitched in his throat. Lea wanted nothing more than to sink all the way into him with one single, ruthless thrust, but watching Isa writhe to adjust to the shape of him was tantalizing.</p>
<p>Isa clawed at Lea’s thighs when he began to move, Lea’s name a soft, wanton moan on his lush lips. Slow and deep; it was an agonizing rhythm to maintain, but so salaciously rewarding. How he’d missed this view, the ease with which Isa melted under his touch and gave into these raptures of delight.</p>
<p>Isa touched and kissed him greedily when Lea leaned over him and placed his hands by Isa’s shoulders to keep him from sliding up the bed. Slow and deep became rapacious and ardent. Every move Isa made, every sound that escaped his lips was exhilarating. Each thrust was punctuated with a stirring, voracious plea for more.</p>
<p>Isa was pliable in this state. More susceptible to the mind games they played.</p>
<p>“Stay,” Lea whispered desperately. “Stay with me, Isa.”</p>
<p>He hadn’t realized how close they both were. Isa clenched around him; a marvelous heat that sucked him in with insatiable need. He groaned into the nape of Lea’s neck, shaking. Lea came forcefully. He rolled his hips for more. Isa’s trembling thighs were tightly around his waist, there was no other way but all the way in. Lea relished in it. There was no space between them, no room for the past, present or future in the afterglow.</p>
<p>Isa released him eventually. He pulled the towel from underneath him and gave it to Lea before he could pull out. Sensitivity lingered. Isa closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as Lea sat back.</p>
<p>“You don’t think you can hold it in?”</p>
<p>“You came a lot.” Isa’s voice was low and husky.</p>
<p>“You too.”</p>
<p>Lea dabbed Isa’s chest with the towel and continued down his abdomen slowly. He placed the towel on the bed, underneath where they were joined and pulled out at last. He flopped down next to Isa. Fatigue washed over him. His body was heavy, his breathing soft and steady, but his heart was still loud. Isa was so close it would take no effort to kiss him.</p>
<p>“Wanna tell me what that was about?”</p>
<p>“I’ve wanted it for a while. A very long while.”</p>
<p>The truth would sound more desperate.<em> I’m in love with you. Don’t leave me. Be mine. Only mine. </em> But Lea was in the midst of a mind game. It was a convoluted way of honesty. He said what he wanted, wrapped it in selfishness and manipulation, and distanced himself so that when it blew up in his face, it was just a game lost, not him standing raw and bare in front of the one person who made his heart riot.</p>
<p>In the fraction of a second it took Isa to turn away from him to stare at the ceiling, Lea saw their horizons widen at the speed of light. There was no Organization that forced them to be together anymore. These games were fit for those in perpetual close quarters. He, if anyone, should know what happened when horizons widened and cages dissolved. Freedom could be intoxicating. If Isa saw that there was nothing to anchor himself to here, he’d drift away, far and fast.</p>
<p>“And…" Lea continued, "I love you.”</p>
<p>“How do you know?” Isa faced him.</p>
<p><em> ‘I just pumped you full of spunk,’ </em> was perhaps too crass for the occasion and not at all the answer Isa was looking for, but Lea had to hide somehow from the inquisitive gaze that had him captivated. Lea held his tongue at his own expense, opting for the unflattering truth instead.</p>
<p>“The thought of losing you is driving me mad.” Lea whispered to keep his voice from cracking. “I think, if you leave, I’ll set that restaurant ablaze.”</p>
<p>“And that doesn’t worry you?”</p>
<p>Lea found himself shaking his head before he could ponder about it. Violent reactions to having his world taken away from him was in his nature, with Isa more so than he’d dare to admit. They hadn’t remained together for as long as they had in their past life with ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ Whoever got in the way, suffered those violent reactions.</p>
<p>“We can’t continue like we were, Lea. Not if we want to live normal lives.” Isa said it like Lea wouldn’t notice how he breathed faster at the shamelessness in Lea’s honesty. </p>
<p>“You want to live a normal life?”</p>
<p>“As normal as I can make it.”</p>
<p>“That’s not the same.” Lea kissed him softly.</p>
<p>“Guess not.”</p>
<p>“Stay," Lea asked again. "Let’s have long and painful conversations about how horrible we’ve been.”</p>
<p>Isa chuckled. </p>
<p>“Who could refuse? Although…” Isa fidgeted slightly, “I’m more you than I am myself right now.”</p>
<p>“Is that an invitation?” Lea gulped.</p>
<p>
  <em> Why’d he have to say it like that? </em>
</p>
<p>Heat spread all over his skin and he pressed himself against Isa.</p>
<p>“No, you’ll make a mess.”</p>
<p>“I’ll clean up.”</p>
<p>“Lea.” It was a half-hearted protest. “In the shower. A short shower. I’m gonna use up all the hot water at this rate.”</p>
<p>“You showered already?”</p>
<p>“Why do you think my hair’s still wet? I was in the shower when you called.”</p>
<p>“It’s your day off today,” Lea said sheepishly. It had escaped his mind completely. He knew the rest, there had been signs, he didn’t need to ask, but doubt, as small as it was, niggled him.</p>
<p>“Did you play with yourself?”</p>
<p>Had it not been for the blush coloring Lea’s cheeks red with shame, Isa might’ve refused to answer to let him stew in baseless jealousy. Instead, Isa cupped his face and brought him close.</p>
<p>“I did.”</p>
<p>“Did you think of me?”</p>
<p>“Always.”</p>
<p>Lea smiled. A lump of tears tickled in his throat. Isa must have known because he kissed him then. He ran his fingers through Lea’s hair until Lea pulled back slightly.</p>
<p>“I love you too,” Isa confessed with adoring certainty.</p>
<p>“That’s great news,” Lea breathed. “The best news.”</p>
<p>“Help me get to the shower.” Isa squeezed Lea’s cheeks together. “News,” he repeated, “it never stopped being true.”</p>
<p>“It’s been a while since we said it.”</p>
<p>Lea shuffled off the bed and kicked the carpet by the bedside away.</p>
<p>“You wanna hear it more often, huh?”</p>
<p>“Until I can’t stand it.”</p>
<p>Lea held the towel to Isa’s perfectly shaped buttocks while he helped him up. What a roller coaster this was. He still wanted to cry with joy and cuddle on a park bench somewhere to stargaze. At the same time, he wanted to drop the towel and watch his load trickle down Isa’s legs and fuck the rest out of him. Perhaps it was just him and his feelings. It had been too long since last time and it was all rushing back with a vengeance.</p>
<p>There had been enough honesty for one evening. All he could do was to dial it back, take a deep breath and pray for self-control. Fortunately, self-control had nothing to do with what Isa wanted once in the shower.</p>
<p>-x-</p>
<p>In the end, Isa postponed his move back to Radiant Garden. They had things to talk about, a past to sort out and a future to plan, not only in terms of Isa’s work, but Lea’s wants and needs. There was more to life than ice cream atop the clock tower. Lea knew as much. He just wasn’t sure if it was something he wanted to move away from yet. And yet, Isa’s question “What do you want for your future?” lingered. Lea didn’t know. Past surviving and getting his friends back, it hadn’t occurred to him that he’d have a future. An ever-changing future, entire worlds as his oysters, cosmic conflicts, and general loafing - the possibilities were endless. Whatever it was that lay ahead, Lea was certain they’d face it together.</p>
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